Infection
by nico420
Summary: The citizens of Townsville weren't sure how to deal with Buttercup. On one hand, she was a Powerpuff Girl. On the other hand, she was a Gangreen Girl. One minute, she'd be saving the day; the next, she'd be marching through the streets with those juvenile delinquents; littering, and loitering, and pushing people out of their way. (rated M for drug use/mild language)
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own The Powerpuff Girls or any of the following characters.**

* * *

**Honestly, I ship Buttercup with Mitch Mitchelson, and Ace with Snake, but I thought this would be a fun story to write; so, here it is. This fanfic is based off the episode "Buttercrush," in which Buttercup develops a crush on Ace and starts hanging out with the Gangreen Gang. In this version, the Powerpuff Girls are 16 (the members of the Gangreen Gang being the same age; 14-17), in which, Buttercup becomes an official member of the gang, and stays with them for a longer period of time. She's in love with Ace, who reciprocates her feelings, rather than using her to get away with things, like in the cartoon.**

* * *

Buttercup had caught the infection. It was spreading throughout her whole body; working it's way from the heart.

* * *

Buttercup was made an official member of the Gangreen Gang, and had been living with them in their little shack, in the city dump, for about a month, now. She moved in, a few weeks after she started dating Ace, who she fell in love with, practically, on sight; a few months, prior to that. She knew that he was bad news, and that he could sweet-talk his way out of anything—and _into_ anything (including Buttercup's panties)—with his charming personality, and a few carefully chosen words; but she knew the _real_ Ace was buried deep inside of him; and underneath, he was troubled and insecure.

None of the guys were _that_ bad. Well, maybe Aturo. He wasn't like the others—like Grubber, who liked to goof off, and Ace's timid best friend, Snake, who always did what Ace said; or Billy, who was just too stupid to know any better. Aturo, was straight-up malicious. He lived to cause others pain. To bully kids and beat them up. Buttercup tried, but she could never really bring herself to like him. The others seemed to like him, though.

She had grown somewhat farther away from her sisters and the Professor, these last couple months. It wasn't totally her fault. She tried. She tried to be a Powerpuff Girl and a member of the Gangreen Gang, at the same; but she was riding a thin line, here. She still fought monsters with her sisters, but the more, and more crimes, she committed, the less, and less crimes, she felt, she could stop. She couldn't punish people for the same crimes she committed; and her sisters couldn't punish her, _or_ the Gangreen Gang, anymore, without getting her in trouble.

There was a lot of tension growing in the silence between them. Buttercup hadn't been home in weeks. She wondered what the Professor thought about her.

Was he disappointed?

"How are you, my flower?" Ace said, sitting next to Buttercup, on the couch. He handed her a beer.

She cracked it open and took a sip before answering. "I'm _bored_. What are we gonna do, tonight?"

"You're _al_ways bored."

"That's because we live in a _shack_ in the middle of a _freakin' dump._"

Ace laughed. Other people might have been put off, or annoyed by it, but he always found her surly personality and bad attitude to be rather endearing. "Are you goin' to school, tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Buttercup took another swig of her beer. She hated school. "Are you?"

"Probably not."

"I probably will. I have to go, at least, _once_ this week."

"Take Big Billy with ya. That kid could _use_ an education, if ya know what I mean."

Buttercup watched as Ace lit up a cigarette. She wished they'd had a TV or something.

The rest of the guys were playing cards, in the kitchen. By the sounds of it, Aturo was winning; but that's only because Grubber wasn't participating.

You wouldn't think so, but Grubber was pretty smart; and actually, very multi-talented. He didn't talk much, but he could play the violin, do good impressions, and knew lots of random information. He was, also, good at just about every card game; and after a while, the guys got sick of losing money to him.

"Can I bums a ssmoke off ya, bosss?" Snake asked, walking into the room.

"Wanna borrow my lighter, too?" Ace said, sarcastically.

"Yeah..."

Ace held out his pack of cigarettes, allowing Snake to take one from it, and fished through his pockets for his lighter, again. "Freeloaders..." He muttered under his breath, handing the lighter to his friend.

"Thanks, bosss."

"You want one, babe?"

Drinking and smoking weed were one thing; but _cigarettes?_ "_No,_ thanks."

"Just tryin' to be polite," Ace said, sweetly.

Buttercup smirked.

The rest of the guys shuffled in.

"Hey, Ace—What are we doin', tonight?" Aturo said, counting the money he'd just won; which wasn't much, because the guys never had much—except for after a big bust. They'd been able to get away with a lot more, since they'd had Buttercup on their team. Before, they were just a band of misfits; your regular, juvenile delinquents—your typical, downtown bullies. Somehow, since Buttercup had joined them, they had gone from bad, to worse.

She just couldn't say no to any of Ace's plans.

Buttercup would have wondered if Ace was just using her to get away with committing the crimes, had she not been so sure that he loved her; almost, as much as she loved him—if not more. She could tell by the look in his eyes (whenever he had his sunglasses off—which was only when they were at home).

"Okay, you know that jewelry store; the one that just opened up, over by the library."

"Dahhh..."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, bosss."

"Pbbbbppppt!"

"Well... I know how to get in there without setting off the alarms." Ace smirked; cocking an eyebrow. He leaned in, to divulge his evil plan. The guys leaned in, eager to hear it. "Okay, here's what we do..."


	2. Chapter 2

At school, the next day, Blossom and Bubbles confronted Buttercup about the jewelry heist. Of course, Buttercup denied everything. "_No,_ I didn't hear about it. They don't even have a goddamn _TV._"

"_And_ we had to stop Mojo, the other day; all by ourselves," Blossom added.

"Oh, yeah?" Buttercup sounded disinterested.

"How are you supposed to know what's going on, if you're never home when the Mayor calls?"

"I miss you, Buttercup!" Bubbles threw her arms around her sister.

"Yeah, yeah." Buttercup let her sister hug her, for a minute.

_I miss you, too._

* * *

The citizens of Townsville weren't sure how to deal with Buttercup. On one hand, she was a Powerpuff Girl. On the other hand, she was a Gangreen Girl. One minute, she'd be saving the day; the next, she'd be marching through the streets, with those juvenile delinquents; littering, and loitering, and pushing people out of their way.

Since, Buttercup walked alongside Ace, Snake was kicked to the back; with the rest of the boys.

He seemed to like Buttercup, alright; but he was always rather jealous of her. Buttercup wondered if, maybe, Snake liked Ace, a little more than he let on. He _was_ somewhat effeminate; and even wore black lipstick.

_That doesn't mean he's gay,_ Buttercup thought; remembering how many of her classmates thought _she_ was gay— simply, because she was a tomboy.

"_Well, well, well._ Look what we have, _here._" Ace said, strolling up to this boy, who looked like he was in Jr. High. "Hey, Snake; isn't this the kid who owes us money?"

Snake looked the kid, up and down.

The boy shook his head, discretely; silently, begging him to say that he wasn't the one.

"Yesss."

The kid face-palmed himself.

Buttercup couldn't help but giggle.

"Let's, you and I, have a talk; shall we?" Ace wrapped his arm around the boys shoulders, so he couldn't run away, and lead him down the nearest alley. "Alright, you little twerp." He grabbed the boy, by his shirt, and shoved him against the wall—held him there. "Either, you cough up, or Lil' Aturo, here's, gonna make you wish you was never born."

Aturo chuckled.

Buttercup was starting to sweat.

These were the situations that made her most uncomfortable. She'd rather be robbing the jewelry store.

"I—I—I—I don't have it on me, right now. But I can get it to you, tonight—I promise!"

"To_night?_"

"Tonight!"

Ace dropped him. "Fine. I will meet you in _this_ alleyway, _tonight._ And you better have _all_ fifty bucks."

They watched the boy scurry away.

"Can you believe the nerve of that kid?"

Suddenly: the sound the bricks, colliding; buildings tearing down—followed by a dinosaur-esque _roar_.

In the distance, they saw a one-eyed monster tearing through Townsville.

"You better take care of that, Buttercup," Ace said.

Buttercup smirked that Buttercup-smirk; which meant she was ready to kick butt.

She went straight for the eye; punching, and kicking, and hollering, at the same time.

She liked being a part of the Gangreen Gang, but nothing could compare to a nice monster-whooping. She was in her prime, when she was fighting—and she thought she was doing well, until the monster started dodging her attacks.

It caught her, while she was flying toward it, and through her into a nearby building.

In the distance, Ace flinched, as he watched.

"That's gotta hurt," Aturo said.

Buttercup tried going for the back, but it turned around and slapped her into the ground.

She was tough, but she was never very good at coming up with plans. Not on the spot, anyway.

She needed...

"Buttercup, are you okay?!"

Buttercup opened her eyes, and saw Blossom and Bubbles, looming over over. They looked worried.

"Yeah." Buttercup sat up. "I'm fine. How are we gonna _stop_ that thing?"

"Well, I have a plan," Blossom said.

"Atta, girl." That's what Buttercup liked to hear.


End file.
